


DEDUCING:  I LOVE YOU

by sfmpco



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Sherlolly meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 23:52:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17456648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sfmpco/pseuds/sfmpco
Summary: Just a little meta piece that breaks down the dialogue of the "I Love You" scene from THE FINAL PROBLEM.





	DEDUCING:  I LOVE YOU

I have taken the dialogue from the scene that we all know from SHERLOCk: THE FINAL PROBLEM, and I’ve broken it down to analyze it. I have not included all the dialogue but just the important bits.

_SHERLOCK: Yes, but why isn’t she answering her phone?_

_JOHN: You never answer your phone._

John's statement isn't true - we see Sherlock reach for his phone every time it rings. However, John is saying that his calls to Sherlock go unanswered.  This is never shown on screen, but John's statement is exposition that doesn't take up screen time in showing it.

_SHERLOCK: Yes, but it’s me calling._

This statement “Yes but it’s me calling” indicates many things including the fact that he is so aware of her feelings towards him that he knows she will answer anytime she sees it is him. He gets a new realization, however, that she doesn’t always pick up when it’s him, and that’s a bit of a shock since he has depended on her availability. Now he knows that she has not been as available as he thought - that there has been a disconnect between them. He realizes that her world doesn’t always revolve around him as he thought - he is not the center of her world, something which he had either consciously or subconsciously relied on for years. His inflated ego of his presumed importance to her has taken a hit. When she finally does pick up, she firmly sets the tone for their conversation.

_MOLLY: Hello, Sherlock. Is this urgent, ’cause I’m not having a good day._

There are, of course, two different things going on here:  what was happening in her world and what was happening in his.  Both were having a bad day and neither knew why of the other, and although we know what is going on in his world at that moment, we we are not privy to why Molly is having her bad day.  Her bad day, however, sets her on edge with him. He doesn't acknowledge her statement but simply presses forward with his own agenda, something she is probably used to.

_SHERLOCK: Molly, I just want you to do something very easy for me, and not ask why._

_MOLLY: Oh, God. Is this one of your stupid games?_

_SHERLOCK: No, it’s not a game. I need you to help me._

_MOLLY: Look, I’m not at the lab._

_SHERLOCK: It’s not about that._

Again, she is firm with him.

_MOLLY: Well, quickly then. Sherlock? What is it? What do you want?_

_SHERLOCK: Molly, please, without asking why, just say these words._

_MOLLY: What words?_

_SHERLOCK: I love you._

_MOLLY: Leave me alone._

She nearly hangs up on him here which makes him frantic under the circumstances. Now he also knows that she will cut him off if necessary, and that also is a new understanding for him regarding their friendship.

_SHERLOCK: Molly, no, please, no, don’t hang up! Do not hang up!_

She is still in control, still calling him out on his behavior. She has always called him out on poor behavior ever since ASIB.

_MOLLY: Why are you doing this to me? Why are you making fun of me?_

He can't make fun of her if he doesn't know how she feels about him, but the fact that she makes that statement says that he does know how she feels about him, so his later denials are hollow.

_SHERLOCK: Please, I swear, you just have to listen to me. Molly, this is for a case. It’s-it’s a sort of experiment._

She sets a firm boundary with him.

_MOLLY: I’m not an experiment, Sherlock._

He immediately back-pedals on his statement, first saying that she’s his friend, then quickly saying that they are friends meaning that their friendship is reciprocal.

_SHERLOCK: No, I know you’re not an experiment. You’re my friend. We’re friends. But please. Just say those words for me._

_MOLLY: Please don’t do this. Just... just... don’t do it._

She doesn’t tell him off but instead begs for herself. By her not outright denying the words, he knows that he has a chance of hearing what he needs.

_SHERLOCK: It’s very important. I can’t say why, but I promise you it is._

_MOLLY: I can’t say that. I can’t ... I can’t say that to you._

Again, she doesn’t deny that she loves him. She is simply unwilling to say it.

_SHERLOCK: Of course you can. Why can’t you?_

_MOLLY: You know why._

_SHERLOCK: No, I don’t know why._

_MOLLY: Of course you do._

I think he actually does know why she can’t say it, but when it involves affairs of his own heart, he denies it, blocks it out. After all, he didn’t know that John considered him a best friend until TSOT.  Also notice that she parrots his "of course," not letting him get away with his demand.

_SHERLOCK: Please, just say it._

_MOLLY: I can’t. Not to you._

_SHERLOCK: Why?_

_MOLLY: Because... because it’s true. Because it’s true, Sherlock. It’s always been true._

_SHERLOCK: Well, if it’s true, just say it anyway._

_MOLLY: You bastard._

Notice that she doesn’t hang up on him after calling him a bastard. She isn’t that indignant with him.

_SHERLOCK: Say it anyway._

_MOLLY: You say it. Go on.  You say it first._

Here she again takes control of this seemingly impossible situation with him.

_SHERLOCK: What?_

_MOLLY: Say it. Say it like you mean it._

This is a game changer for him. Not only is he under the clock that she is not privy to, but he must now say the words to her that he probably has never said to anyone.

_SHERLOCK: I-I...: I love you. I love you. Molly? Molly, please._

After judging his sincerity, she says it.

_MOLLY: I love you._

When she said “say it like you mean it,” it possibly implies that he had said those words to her before but was flippant and insincere, perhaps in a moment of drug-fueled sarcasm, perhaps in the back of the ambulance in TLD. “Say it like you mean it - _this time_ ” might be a better interpretation. This is partly why she is annoyed with him and asks if it’s just another one of his stupid games - because undoubtedly she felt that his going deep into drug abuse to catch a serial killer was incredibly stupid in TLD - a plan he probably explained in the ambulance ride. That game was very fresh in her mind.

Love, however, is not a game to her, particularly concerning her torch him, nor is saying the words. When she asks him then to say the words first and to say it like he means it, she isn't looking for him to speak it out in hollow contriteness or just to say it because she’s always wanted to hear him say the words to her - she doesn’t know what is happening on his end at that moment. She only knows their history together, some of which we are not privy to but which are soundly implied. Now she's looking for sincerity that he lacked before and he knows it. It is only when she is convinced of his sincerity that she allows herself to say the reciprocal words to him.

What we don’t get from her, however, is seeing her relief that he has said it meaningfully. There is no delight from her in hearing him say the words she has always wanted to hear in a relationship she has always wanted. No romantic sigh or smile from her. She is still hesitant to actually say the same words to him. It is painful for her to get the words out. Yes, they are friends, but their friendship has never held the promise of anything more which is why she has trouble saying the words. When she finally says them after he begs in desperation, she barely whispers the words. This is not the circumstance in which she would like to have verbalized her confession of love.

Of course he knew that she loved him. He’d known that since ASIB, but he’d also seen her get engaged, then break it off, although he doesn’t understand that her unresolved feelings for him were the cause of her break up with her fiancé. Despite her admission in HLV that he sometimes used her flat as a bolt hole, he had probably lost the signal of around the time of Mary's death in TST.  It wasn't that she stopped loving him, but that Mary's death turned his world upsidedown and his focus was on repairing his relationship with John.

He does not react to her admission of love except with relief that he has gotten her to say the words needed to thwart the bomb threat. It is only when he learns that Eurus has played him just to see his reaction that he explodes with rage and takes it out on Molly’s mock coffin. He has been used to play Molly's emotions while at the same time has been coerced into making an admission that he had tucked away since TEH. If he was ever going to say the words, this was not how he would have wanted the situation either. Now both are stuck with having said the words in ways that were unproductive in their friendship.

Everything has apparently been cleared between them at the end, however, when she is grinning broadly and happily as she enters the 221B flat and makes her way towards him while he fades in looking at her and smiling slightly as he plays his violin.

#SHERLOCK, #Molly Hooper, #Sherlolly


End file.
